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Saturday, June 25, 2016

Advisor: Trump would Support Israel Rejecting Palestinian State, Annexing Parts of West Bank

Here's another reason for anti-Israel people of all stripes to hate Donald Trump. He appears to be more pro-Israel than either Barack Obama (obviously) or George W. Bush. Indeed, he may be the most pro-Israel candidate of modern times.

Trump would support Israeli annexation of parts of West Bank, says adviser

In interview with Haaretz, David Friedman, candidate’s co-adviser on Israeli affairs, says Trump doesn't believe Palestinian state is 'an American imperative.' He's also not concerned over possibility of binational state: 'Nobody really knows how many Palestinians live there.'

If elected U.S. president in November, Donald Trump would support Israel’s annexing parts of the West Bank, a senior official in the Trump campaign told Haaretz in an interview this week.

Trump is not worried about the possibility of a binational state, said David Friedman, the candidate’s adviser on Israel. “Nobody really knows how many Palestinians live there,” he said.

As president, Trump would be unlikely to adopt the policies of President Barack Obama and his predecessor, George W. Bush, that a Palestinian state is a U.S. security interest, the adviser said. A 57-year-old lawyer specializing in real estate and bankruptcies, Friedman has worked with Trump as an attorney for 15 years.

A few months ago during the election campaign, Trump announced that Friedman, along with Trump Industries legal adviser Jason Greenblatt, would both serve as his advisers on Israeli affairs.

“Things are not going downhill. Everything is fine,” Friedman said. “The polls are extremely fluid. They don’t mean much at this point. People who study the polls tell us it is pretty even right now. There is a lot of work to do but nobody is discouraged by the polling.”

Trump's ambassador to Israel?

A profile of Friedman published a few weeks ago by Makor Rishon describes him as the lead candidate for the job of ambassador to Israel if Trump wins the election. Friedman is involved in philanthropic activities for Israel, a large part of which has to do with settlements in the West Bank. He is president of an organization of American friends of the Beit El settlement, who have sent millions of dollars to the settlement in recent years.

Friedman said that in recent months he has given Trump a few briefings about the Israeli-Palestinian issue and that Trump is knowledgeable about the details of the long-standing conflict.

Trump’s positions on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, as his close aide sees it, will be welcomed by the right and the Israeli settlements lobby. If Trump wins the election, Friedman said he would carry out the policy as he, Friedman, presented it. He would in effect retreat from a policy in place under Republican and Democratic presidents alike for the past five decades. In such a situation, Trump would even be further to the right than his apparent supporter, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Does Mr. Trump support the creation of an independent Palestinian state?

“The answer is – not without the approval of the Israelis,” said Friedman. “This is an issue that Israel has to deal with on its own because it will have to deal with the consequences. His feeling about Israel is that it is a robust democracy. The Israelis have to make the decision on whether or not to give up land to create a Palestinian state. If the Israelis don’t want to do it, so he doesn’t think they should do it. It is their choice. ... He does not think it is an American imperative for it to be an independent Palestinian state. “

Friedman explains that the reasons for Trump’s positions about the creation of a Palestinian state are due first and foremost to what he described as “the Gaza experiment” and the way that ended. The second reason is that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has no domestic political legitimacy in the Palestinian Authority, and therefore he has no mandate to sign a peace agreement. Finally, Friedman explains, the American interest is that Israel will live in security and therefore any step that may weaken it should be avoided.

“If the Israelis conclude that they need to do this [establish a Palestinian state] in order to enhance their long-term security – which I think we are very skeptical about – but if this is what they conclude they want to do, we will respect this decision. ... If the circumstances change ... and there is a reason to be optimistic, then great, but the current facts don’t make that [Palestinian state] an American imperative at all.”

'Committed to settlers'

Friedman said Trump’s support for building settlements stemmed from his understanding that the Israeli government “has a commitment to its citizens in Judea and Samaria” who moved out there with its agreement. Trump, according to Friedman, said Israel has to continue to build in the settlements because there is no reason not to do so.

Israelis “don’t have to wait another generation for the Palestinians to hold more realistic expectations and show less hostile motivation,” Friedman said. “Trump’s position is that we have to deal with reality and not hopes and wishes.”

Trump’s aide said the possibility of a binational state emerging between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea doesn’t worry Trump. Listening to the policy Friedman talks reminds one more than a little of the positions of Habayit Hayehudi and the YESHA council of settlements.

“There are always creative ways to allow people to live in peace. It is not always about the land. We don’t accept the idea it is only about land. Nobody really knows how many Palestinians actually live there,” Friedman said.

Does he think Trump would object to Israel annexing parts of the West Bank?

“I think there are parts of the West Bank that will stay part of Israel in any peace deal. I am sure he wouldn’t have any problem with that at all. Regarding the entire West Bank I think that’s a legal issue. I don’t think he will have a problem with that but he would expect Israel to continue seeking peace. He has no doubt that Israel wants peace,” Friedman replied.

Many ministers in the Israeli government support the annexation of at least parts of the West Bank to Israel – would Trump support that?

“I would expect that he would,” said the adviser. “I haven’t had this discussion with him but I expect he would. “

3 comments:

Would that Mr. Trump were so articulate as to express himself so clearly as his spokesman.

For the record and for what it's worth, I will not be following in the footsteps of George Will; however, I would be writing-in the name of Bobby Jindal, the only candidate with a genuine Catholic ethic and instinct, on my ballot.